Replying to LO30444 --
Mark,
Two items came to mind when reading your comment. First is the contextual
nature of knowledge. I believe it is the need for context that enables
action, which is what I believe stands behind the leap from information to
knowledge. Closing the door requires the context of being cold or not
wanting the dog in to understand the link between action and why the
action took place. The second item that occurred to me centered on
falsity and how it is determined. Doesn't this also require some
understanding of context and secondly, an understanding of the beliefs and
assumptions behind the judgment made when determining truth or falsity?
Otherwise, you might end up with a difference of opinion on the validity
of any action taken by someone else. Just a couple thoughts that occurred
to me.
Ross
>From: Mark W. McElroy [mailto:mmcelroy@vermontel.net]
>If we cannot turn to notions of 'knowledge' in our quest to differentiate
>truth from falsity, then what's the point of it all?
>Next, knowledge is NOT the capacity for effective action. In order to
>take effective action, one must also have (a) the desire or will to take
>it, b) the power or authority to do so, and (c) the means or resources
>required. Without these three things, all of the true knowledge in the
>world will get us nowhere. Thus, knowledge CONTRIBUTES TO effective
>action (i.e., true knowledge), but it NOT THE SAME AS action.
>To help illustrate my point, imagine the same action taking place twice,
>yet with different goals and intentions. If I close the door to keep out
>the draft, then close it again the next day to keep out the dog, in what
>sense is closing the door on both occasions the same expression of
>knowledge? It is not. It is the same act, but the knowledge behind the
>act is entirely different in each case. I find these notions of
>conflating knowledge with action to be confused and just wrong.
--"Wirth, Ross" <RWIRTH@citgo.com>
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